By Sally Mesarosh

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Just say ‘know’ a timely update for parents’ guidance to teens By Sally Mesarosh “Just say no” no longer works when it comes to educating teens about today’s constantly changing drug scene. Stephanie Siete of Community Bridges tells parents to stay informed and create a village around their kids. Today, she tells parents, it’s more effective to say, “Just say ‘know.’ ” “My purpose is not to scare you but to arm you with information,” Siete said during a recent information session at Corona del Sol High School. “Being in the know is the key to protecting our community and saving lives.” Siete stressed that the new forms of marijuana are incredibly potent. “BHO,” “honey,” “wax” and “butter” sound like something off the supermarket shelf but are actually slang terms for the new, gooey forms of marijuana. Today’s THC levels from smoking pot have been rated at 15-20 percent, but with the new forms, it’s 90 percent. And it’s no longer a bag of weed or a joint that signals drug use. Tempe police and school officials report that they are looking in lip balm containers for these forms of marijuana. “Young people can sometimes be seen putting the wax on their lips or sucking it off of a toothpick,” Siete said. A new concern about alcohol is the product “Palcohol,” a powdered alcohol product created in Tempe. Palcohol has just received state approval and could hit Arizona stores this summer. The freeze-dried alcohol can be used to make any beverage alcoholic. It’s easily concealable and also easily abused if not mixed properly or snorted. In the revised list of what are considered gateway drugs, running a close fourth to alcohol, tobacco and marijuana, is prescription medication. In 2013, 575 million pills were prescribed in Arizona, according to Siete. “That’s a lot of pills that people have access to,” she said. “When people die from an overdose, 60 percent of the time, it’s prescription drugs.” Prescription abuse can also lead to heroin use. When users try to buy painkillers on the street, it’s expensive, so they turn to heroin because it’s cheaper. Statistics show heroin use in the United States has doubled in the past five years and related deaths have tripled. Overall drug deaths in the U.S. have jumped from 6,100 in 1980 to 43,982 in 2013. Siete recommends a Cronkite News documentary called “Hooked: Tracking Heroin’s Hold on Arizona” for insight into the local drug epidemic. What type of action can be taken to halt or reduce these figures? Siete repeated the need to share our knowledge and hold meaningful conversations. “Tell your sister, your neighbor, your golf partner, your co-worker,” Siete said passionately. “It’s not a kid problem—it’s a community problem.” Tempe Union High School District and Tempe Coalition collaborated with Community Bridges to sponsor Siete’s presentation at Corona del Sol. Here are some of their top recommended resources:

• www.casafamilyday.org/ familyday/tools-you-can-use

• www.drugfree.org

• www.parentstheantidrug.org Arizona-based resource:

• http://www.togetheraz.com/

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